Here are questions and answers pertaining to the play and rules of the WCW Nitro Trading Card Game. Many of these have been drawn from Q&A which have been posted to the mailing list supporting this game and addressed by WCW Nitro game designer Mike Fitzgerald. Special thanks to William Noetling who provided me with a document which contained many of these Q&A

BASIC GAMEPLAY

Q:How do you choose who starts first each game if the rep is the same?A: Randomly decide- die roll etc.

Q:If you have one of the Thunder cards come up while you are taking damage, that says when it comes from the deck all opponents cards do -1 in damage, does that card work to limit the damage you are currently taking?A: No- these cards say put them in your corner and then they will do their thing from then on.

Q:DDP has Jimmy Hart in his corner to distract the referee and enable the use of weapons. His opponent, Kidman, has Outside Interference in his corner along with his two "friends", Bagwell and Jarrett. Is the referee considered to be distracted for *both* players' benefit (giving Kidman the chance to use the Outside Interference card) or does Jimmy Hart only benefit DDP for distraction purposes?A: When the ref is distracted, he is distracted for everybody.

Q:Does Resistance is Useless ignore Thunder cards (like Angry Fans) which are in the opponent's Corner as well as those which are turned up from the deck and/or played from the hand?A: You can't ignore Angry Fans in the corner because you must first play the attack card before adding in Resistance is Useless so you must meet the attack cards requirements without the aid of RiU.

Q:According to the game turn sequence, a player must draw his initial card before spending any Action Points. Is it permitted to do things which do not require the expenditure of Action Points prior to drawing that initial card? For example, can Bret Hart use his Special Ability to return 5 discards to his deck before drawing his initial card? In a recent game, Hart was down to one card in his deck (after eating a big attack) when his turn began and had not yet used his Special. If he could use it before drawing that card, he could have saved himself and won the round. If he had to draw first, he would lose.A: You cannot use your ability before the draw unless the ability states a use outside your turn. The rulebook says "each time it's your turn, start by drawing a card" (p.19)

Q:Concerning such cards as DDT which require 1 or more cards to be discarded from your deck, are you allowed to search through your deck to find the card(s) to be discarded or must you discard cards from off the top of the deck?A: From the top of the deck. (Thunders you pull this way do not activate)

Q:Concerning cards such as Chae which levy some Nitro or attack penalty, do the penalties also apply to the player who played these cards?A: Read the Card- some like Chae apply to all players. (you use this in a deck that does not use blue attacks) Others like Fans Boo the Other Wrestler only apply to the other player.

Q:Does Late Nitro count towards Nitro bonus?A: Yes

Q:Does Late Nitro count as a legal target for Chaos in the Corner or Good Night Everybody?A: Yes- it counts as a Nitro card. Chaos in the Ring can not remove a Nitro card.

Q:Is it required to spend any or all of one's Action Points during your turn? Last night, I was playing a great match between Kidman and Mysterio which came down to Kidman having two cards in his deck while Mysterio had one card remaining. It was Kidman's turn. After drawing a card to begin his turn, he had no attacks or other cards which could be played in order to spend his Action Points. Does this situation force him to spend his APs drawing cards -- which, of course, would exhaust his deck and cause him to lose the round? Or, could he "pass" his turn and force Mysterio to draw his final card and end up losing the round?A: It is required to use all your actions. Kidman would lose.

Q:Continue the Hold cards don't benefit from any modifying cards played with the initial attack. However, do they receive any +1 wrestler color bonuses?A: Continue the Hold does not get benefits from cards played or wrestler once a round abilities but does get whatever came with the initial attack card.

Q:Can a Mentor card be used to give an additional bonus from a Wrestler in the Corner which may be used with Continue the Hold?A: Mentor would work since it affects the base number of the attack without adding a card.

Q:Is it legal to play two (or more) Mix in Some Nitro cards in the same turn and, thus, reduce the number of required Nitro for other card plays during that turn by 4, 6, or more?A: Yes

Q:Is it legal to play two or more white modifier cards such as Running Start and/or Dive From the Top Rope on a single attack card?A: Yes

Q:What happens when somebody does something illegal and the ref is not distracted?A: Nothing. But to use a weapon the Ref MUST be distracted first. The only bad thing about illegal moves is that if your opponent is packing the Thunder card DQ and it comes up during an illegal attack, you lose (ref distracted or not).

Q:Does a Late Nitro count as a "Nitro" card for purposes of only being allowed to have 4 in a deck? In other words, can I have more than 4 Late Nitro cards in my deck?A: You may only have 4 Late Nitro in your deck. The only card that is unlimited is actual Nitro Cards, not cards with Nitro in the title.

Q:Does Nitro get used up on your turn? If I have five (5) Nitro in my corner, can I play a Belly to Belly Suplex (3 Nitro, 1 action) and a 450 Splash (5 Nitro, 2 Action), or can I only play cards requiring 2 or less Nitro and 2 or less Action points after the Belly to Belly Suplex?A: Nitro does not get used up. The only thing that gets used up is Action Points. So, you can play all of those cards.

Q:Are the rules correct in that wrestlers are placed in the discard pile and are subject to being recycled instead of being removed from the round after being exploited?A: Yes the wrestlers are discarded

Q:Is it permissable to use a corner wrestler's special ability via a Help card more than once in the same round?A: No - you can not use a wrestlers specail ability more than once a round. The recycling does allow you to use the wrestlers stats with cards like Call for Help more than once but not the ability.
Good find on this deck- we found it to be very strong in playtesting. Keep in mind my rulings are not final since I am not an official DCI guy at WOTC. But this is what I had in mind in making the game.

DAMAGE RESOLUTION

Q:During damage resolution, Kidman turns up multiple Payback cards (or multiple Move cards following Kidman Gets Help) and gets to return multiple small attacks against his opponent. While resolving the first Payback card, the opponent turns up a Thunder card which say "after this attack, the opponent's turn ends" (or, alternatively, he discards a "Full Stop" from his corner). Would the remainder of the Payback attacks be ignored?A: No -- since all this is going on during your turn.

Q:Kidman plays Moonsault with Irish Whip to the Ropes. During damage resolution, the opponent turns up multiple Block cards. Does Kidman take 3 points of damage for each Block or just 3 points total?A: 3 points for each Block.

Q:In a recent game pitting Kidman v. Nash, Nash played his Elbow Smash and Kidman turned up Kidman Gets Help as the first damage draw. He then proceeded to draw *7* Move cards! The question is whether or not this return damage to Nash is treated as 7 separate 3-point attacks (as multiple Payback cards would be treated) or if the total of 21 points is delivered as one attack (which one Dodge card would stop).A: Each move would do a seperate 3 like Payback. That is the nastiest Kidman Gets Help story I have heard yet. 7 moves- wow.

Q:Concerning attack cards which allow you to ignore Thunders/Dodges, does this only apply to cards drawn from the deck to resolve damage, or does it also apply to Corner cards and Thunders which might be played from the hand?A: The card will explain. If it ignores all Thunders than that includes the hand, corner and deck. If it ignores Dodges- that means any card with Dodge in the title etc. The high risk moves explain they only get affected by Dodge or Block Thunders from the deck.

Q:Do Practiced Dodge and Practiced/Strong Block count for damage taken from attack modifiers (i.e., Dive From the Top Rope's 4 for a Dodge coming up)?A: The Dive From the Top Rope says "If a Dodge Thunder card comes up"- so no- the corner Dodges and Blocks would not count.

Q:If a Second Wind card is turned up during damage resolution, does that count as "playing" that card and causing it to be removed from the round? If not, could a subsequent Second Wind card played from the hand be used to recover the first discarded Second Wind card and return it to the deck?A: No-Yes

Q:If multiple Payback cards are turned up during damage resolution, is each considered to be a separate attack or is their total damage combined into one attack?A: Each is a seperate attack.

FAN CARD COMBOS

Q:Are Thunders affected by corner cards? Like if a Payback comes up, and there are 3 Loud Fans in play. Is it considered as attack and thus reduced to 0 damage?A: In this case- yes

Q:Must an Attack card deliver at least one point of damage in order to qualify for a subsequent play of a Pin? For example, if 4 Heckling Fans and 4 Fans Boo the Other Wrestler are in play and one Wrestler plays a Vertical Suplex, we have an interesting situation. The Vertical Suplex damage has been reduced to nil (actually, -1), but since "no damage points were stopped", can the Wrestler now play a Pin card? This seems rather ludicrous, but is it allowable under the game's rules?A: Yes it is allowable. This would be a very rare situation- I have never seen it happen and I have played a lot of Fan decks vs Pin decks.

Q:Let's suppose that there were six combined -1 damage Fan cards in play. Now, the Vertical Suplex would be reduced to a value of 1 point. If that single point of damage isn't stopped, a subsequent Pin seems perfectly legal even if one must ignore reality while it's happening. Or, is this just a dangerous strategy with which to counter Fan decks?A: I have seen the Fan decks get beat by some easier pins like this. It is perfectly legal as long as none of the damage is stopped.

Q:The preceding questions would also apply to Continue the Hold combos along with an additional question. Do the damage modifications of the Fan cards apply to the resolution of the Continue the Hold card? Other cards which modify the original Attack (such as Running Start) are disregarded for the Continue, but do the Fan cards continue to exert their influence? If not, substitute Figure-Four Leg Lock for
Vertical Suplex in the preceding questions and a similar Fan deck counter-strategy is now possible with Continue the Hold combos.A: The Fan cards would apply to the Continue because they are global affects-not ones used just for that first attack.

ERRATA AND MISC. QUESTIONS

Q:Just wondering why Spinning Kick is a Magenta card?A: A mistake -- it should be Green for maneuver. It also should not have the Continue the Hold on it. Those are only in Yellow (submission type moves).

Q:Also, with Corner Chaos. Why is that card Magenta?A: It is Magenta because guys who are good at lifting can clear the corner easier than others.

Q:Is it intended that The Artist and TTP's special ability do not require the deck to be reshuffled after searching through it? It would seem that this could give one some powerful intelligence about the structure of a deck if he's allowed to look all or part of the way through it while finding cards and then not having to reshuffle.A: These should say that you should shuffle the deck afterwards.

Q:I assume there are plans for sanctioned tournaments. If so, will there be any "sideboard" for the match? Otherwise, it would seem that some cards will be rather underplayed (DQ for instance.)A: I don't think that we are going to do a sideboard. However, I put 3 DQ's (it would be 4, but I only have 3) in my fast win Pin deck because if I get them in my hand, I can recycle them looking for the combos I need to pull off my early Pin Win.

Q:Jeff's Punch does not contain the text "Only Jeff Jarrett may use this card". Is it reasonable to assume that this is errata and that the card should be treated as any other wrestler-unique foil?A: Yes